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Maynard making a name for himself
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Boise State track and field coach Mike Maynard said that before he ever got a job offer at Boise State, he knew he wanted to coach there.
“The first time I came here, ever, was 1994 for the NCAA Championships. I fell in love with the area, so when the championships were held here in 1999 I invited my family to come and enjoy it with me.
“We came up and had such a great time. My wife said that if I ever got offered a job in Boise, she’d like to be here.”
And thus started an infatuation with Boise State that would lead to a phone call from Broncos Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier.
At the time Bleymaier called Maynard, Maynard was already starting his coaching career elsewhere.
“I was at the University of Arizona, where I had been for a while,” Maynard said. “The next spring Gene Bleymaier called me and invited me to come for an interview.
“I really knew upon coming up here for the interview that if I was offered a job, I would take it.”
After leaving his job as an associate head coach at Arizona, Maynard said that he was excited to take a plunge.
“I got the opportunity to get a head coaching position.” Maynard said. “I knew that they ran a couple of great championships here, I liked the facility, I liked the community, and a former coach, Ed Jacoby, a good friend of mine, he just had a lot of great things to say about the place.”
Maynard was appointed as head coach on June 30, 2000, and, since then, has done some fantastic things with the program he has run. Maynard has turned a small Division I school into a national contender.
“I’m very excited that I improved the program,” Maynard said. “There are a couple things that I’m really excited about. Obviously the two WAC championships are really exciting. What’s also exciting is that the last three years on the men’s team, in the NCAA Championships, we’ve finished in the top 25. We’ve been top 15 the last two consecutive years.”
But don’t think Maynard wants to stop there.
“I don’t consider that by any means satisfying completely, because my goal is to create a team that vies for the national championship,” Maynard said. “I think that those performances indicate that the team is on the right track, or in the right direction. I consider them spots on the track that show we’re doing the right things.”
Maynard and the men and women’s outdoor track and field teams begin the season Saturday at the Hornet Invitational in Sacramento, Calif.
Along with the success of the men, the women have started to make rifts too.
“I’m excited about the women’s team building up,” he said “We’ve got a great young women’s team.
“My sport is a little different, because it’s not just one sport. We have men and women cross country, men and women outdoor track and men and women indoor track. Until we win all the champsionships all the time and graduate all athletes with a 4.0, there will always be lots of goals. But I am satisfied with the direction.”
Mike Sharp
Sports Writer